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Mother, I have reached the land of my dreams – CIRCLE1’s Exhibition at the ID Festival Berlin | 21-23.10.16

Going back centuries and millennia, the travel routes of migrants tell the story of a humanity ravaged by wars, famine, prosecution and crises. Traversing lands, seas and continents, the pairs of eyes that witnessed and the legs that treaded the land – of those persistent in their search for a better future, if not sheer survival – are the bearers of life experiences that remain largely untold and forgotten, even if the collective fates of migrant populations had merged into the great currents of history, shaping cultures, civilizations, peoples and ethnicities everywhere.

Today we are exposed to the plight of migrants more than ever before; indeed, many of us experience it first-hand, or are touched by it irrevocably. At a time of instantly-updating news reports, the shocking images of refugees desperately making their way to Europe – tragically, sometimes at the cost of their lives – reach us within seconds and resonatedeeply. The massive media coverage inspires public debate, civil action and changes in policies and attitudes, but also a rise in xenophobia and antagonism. However, given the nature of electronic media, even the most iconic of these devastating images ends up drowning in the infinite flow of newsfeeds, updates and data overload. How can the story of immigration retain a lasting impact? Can art, with its visual means, address the broad spectrum of immigration stories and retain its relevance in the face of acute states of emergency on the one hand, and an overload of existing news coverage on the other?

The title of the exhibition, Mother, I have reached the land of my dreams, brings to mind the finishing lines of a legend, the moment where a long journey comes to an end and daily routine sets in; where the hoped-for destination, once arrived at, makes way for the renunciation of fantasies and dreams. It also marks the starting point of a journey of a different kind – this time, not across geographical distances but an internal journey, no less excruciating than the first; a never ending journey, perhaps, troubled by perennial self-questioning: »Have I arrived already? Can I start over, relax, sit back and let go of the past, of a country left behind?« Despite the extreme connotations of refuge-seeking, this current exhibition approaches the different states and circumstances of migrations as touching one another, despite their apparent disparities. All participants reside in Berlin permanently – some for decades or since infancy, while others are, relatively speaking, newcomers to the German capital – but none were born in it.

Some of the works address the pressing issue of the dire fate of the refugees attempting to cross the Mediterranean, while others rework personal histories and family biographies entangled in a tormented past. Still others deal with foreignness in its universal dimension, along with its attendant misconceptions and prejudices.